Sunday, 30 June 2013

Tour at 20:30

Report from Elding: As we headed out the weather had taken a turn for the worse. We started in Lundey where we saw a lot of puffins, Eider Ducks and Black Guillemots.We hadn't sailed for long when we spotted a Minke Whale. It surfaced three times but because of the waves and the evening sun it was hard to see. We decided to test our luck further out. All of a sudden we see some huge splashes in the distance. It was very far away so we sailed as fast as we could towards it. Turned out to be a jumping Humpback Whale. It jumped right in front of us, just 50 m away. It soon calmed down and surfaced slowly around us for some time. It also rolled on the surface, waving its flippers. Far too soon we had to say goodbye to this humpback and head on home. Unfortunetaly none of our crew members got a picture of the jumping humpback but fortunetaly one of our passengers, Kaspar Bams, did! You can see the picture below. An unbelievable tour in spite of the bad weather.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 17:00

Report from Hafsúlan: It had become quite windy when we left the harbour but the wind was blowing from the north east so we were sheltered by the bay and the waves were not very big. As we had sailed for about 15 minutes we started noticing that the Faxaflói bay was crowded with birds, especially arctic terns that were diving for food everywhere. Soon after that we saw the first minke whale and it showed itself very well, coming close to us, making splashes and blows and apparently feeding in the surface. We must have seen around 3 minke whales before we started heading into another area. A huge blow was spotted, then a splash and it was obvious that we were no longer dealing with minke whales. Indeed we had spotted the humpback whale that we had been hoping for all day! It made large splashes and blows, slapped its tail repeatedly against the surface and turned over in the surface again and again. We stayed with the humpback whale as long as we could until we had to head to Lundey the puffin island where there were lots of puffins and other birds and although the tour was quite windy it was sunny and dry and the visibility was stunning, allowing us to enjoy a beautiful view on Snæfellsjökull glacier and Reykjavík city. Fantastic tour!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 14:00

Report from Elding: The wind had picked up a little bit but the weather was still amazing. We went straight out to look for whales and it only took about 15 minutes before we spotted the first Minke Whale. It surfaced right in front of us, leaving the horrible smell of its breath in the air around the boat. We saw it surface twice more, just 10 m from the boat, we could even see it swimming under the surface. We waited for a while for it to resurface but then decided to continue. Further out we saw many Minke Whales, probably around 6-7 and also a pod of 3-4 Harbour Porpoises. One Minke Whale surfaced just 1-2 m away from us, making it wasy to see how big these animals truly are. On our way back we spotted some White-beaked Dolphins, probably 20-25 individuals. They were moving slowly when we saw them but soon they started jumping right in front of the boat. We stayed with them as long as we could and then headed back, making a stop at Akurey to see the puffins.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 13:00

Report from Hafsúlan: We started out in the puffins island Akurey and found lots of puffins. It was quite calm and sunny and very warm as we headed out onto the Faxaflói bay. Soon, we found the first minke whale. It was feeding in the surface and came up with large splashes and blows, sometimes in close proximity to the boat and it left a cloud of stinky smell in the air. All senses were involved! There were many flocks of birds on the bay this afternoon so apparently there was plenty to eat. It is amazing to see the tiny arctic terns dive down into the sea and then watch this huge minke whale surface right next to it. At one point a minke whale even surfaced on its back so we could see its white belly! All in all we probably saw 2 or 3 minke whales but they surfaced frequently and showed interesting behaviour. Good tour!

-Arnór Tumi

Tour at 10:00

Report from Elding: The sea was very calm and beautiful weather then we headed out this morning. We started our tour in Akurey where we saw many puffins sitting on the water around the island. Then we headed out and there were many flocks of birds all around on the way out. When we had been sailing for half an hour or so we spotted a Minke Whale. There were many animals in that area(5-6) and we could see them surfacing all around us. Soon we also found a pod of around 15 White-beaked Dolphins. They were very calm and we followed them for a while before deciding to look for something more. We encountered more Minke Whales and right before heading home we came very close to one Minke that came up twice with the belly facing up, even showing its tail while doing it. Such a magnificent sigth.

-Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir

Tour at 9:00Report from Hafsúlan: The weather this morning was beautiful as we headed out from our harbour in Reykjavík. After a very short sailing (maybe 20-30 minutes) when we spotted our first Minke Whale which we could watch for quite some time very close as it was surface feeding around us. There were at least 3-4 animals around us and we enjoyed the sightings of the Minke's as they surfaced around us. After spending some time there we decided to head out and try our luck on finding something more and the luck was with us! Just a little bit further away we saw a pod of 5-6 White-beaked Dolphins that were hunting and there was a lot of birds around them, we watched them as they swam with the boat and came up just next to us. Further away we could see some splashes and we sailed towards them, on our way there we saw another group of dolphins that were moving very fast towards us and jumping up, this pod was a little bigger, maybe 8-10 animals and a little further there was the third group of dolphins with over 10 animals. Also there were around 3 Minke Whales that surfaced in the background so it was the perfect view. We wathched them for some time and finally decided after we spent some time admiring them that we should let them hunt and head to Akurey, The Puffin Island were we could see the amazing birds life there! Good tour in fabulous morning weather. - Freydís Ósk Hjörvarsdóttir

Birds seen on today's tours include: Eider ducks, puffins, fulmars, lesser black backed gulls, kittiwakes, northern gannets, black guillemots, arctic terns and arctic skuas.